Pentagon Auditors Allegedly Doctored Files

A group of Pentagon auditors apparently put their job skills to good use, covering their own backs in preparation for internal reviews, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

Auditors from the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) allegedly spent more than 1,100 hours—or the equivalent of 47 work days— altering their own internal files to ensure they would pass a review, the AP reported, based on a report it obtained from the Defense Department’s inspector general.

According the inspector general’s report, auditors would find out in advance what files would be checked by reviewers and would allegedly alter the files to ensure the results were favorable.

The DCAA audits defense contracts and was responsible for the recent discovery that Vice President Cheney’s former company, Halliburton, possibly overcharged the Army for gasoline in Iraq, the AP reported.

The inspector general’s report states that the auditors’ activity "certainly violates the spirit and intent" of government auditing standards and rules on ethical conduct. The inspector general learned of the activity from a hotline tip.